MUSIC: Dear Major Record Label…Re: Stacy Barthe

Stacy Barthe is a household name depending on who you ask. While Top 40 radio has yet to get acquainted, many music industry insiders know Barthe as the immensely talented singer-songwriter credited on projects as divergent as Brittany Spears’ Circus is to Fabolous’ SOUL Mixtape 3. To her mounting fans, Barthe’s name is a herald of the shift back to basics -the same soulful rudiments ever-present on her highly acclaimed EPs. So what’s the problem? As I see it, Stacy Barthe is a rare find. Left unadulterated, Barthe’s effusive vocals may pour into voids that have not been filled since Jill Scott…or was it Jazmine Sullivan? Supreme voices that when branded, packaged and marketed by the “majors” may never be heard from again, or at least, hearkened to in the same state of purity it was found. These past failures suggest that a climb to further popularity, hoisted upon big budget advertising, can threaten the artistic merit that made the fans listen in the first place. But, never one to cast too wide of a net, the exceptional talents gained and lost by kinks in the “machine” cannot conclusively predict what a scarce and remarkable talent like Stacy Barthe will become in a music world gilded with Grammys. Though Grammy nominated herself, her ambitions may be different all together. All I’m saying is, record label, Stacy Barthe is awesome, so please don’t #$!@ it up.